Spring actuated rolling exercise toy



July 24, 1962 F. H. SONGER SPRING ACTUATED ROLLING EXERCISE TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17. 1959 INVENTOR FRANCIS H. SO'NGER ORNEY July 24, 1962 F. H. SONGER 3,046,011

SPRING ACTUATED ROLLING EXERCISE TOY Filed March 17. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS INVENTOR FRANCIS H SONGER BY m TTORNEY United States Patent OfiPice 3,046,011 Patented July 24, 1962 3,046,011 V SPRING ACTUATED ROLLING EXERCISE TOY Francis H. Songer, Atlanta, Ga.

(Box 208A, Lawrenceville, Ga.) 7 Filed Mar. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 799,872 3 Claims. (Cl. 27256) This invention relates to a spring-mounted and rolling exercise toy and particularly to a device of that sort on which children may sit and cause the toy to move in response to their change and weight position, body position, and the like.

There is always a need for a device or apparatus which will capture the interest of children so that they may occupy their time pleasurably with interesting entertainment and also so that they may find some means for con: suming some of their energy. Both young and older children are immediately interested in toy devices upon which they can sit and ride, or can twist or turn and move their bodies in different positions so as to shift their weight and center of gravity from the usual standing up, sitting down, or lying down positions. It is a great deal of fun to a child to experience motion and to rock back and forth or to move up and down in some pattern that is out of the ordinary.

There are various see-saw type devices and similar toy exercise devices in the prior art and there are also springmounted seats and rocking devices; however, none of these presents the novel combination of rolling, rocking and controlled spring-resilient travel found in the instant invention.

Generally described, without the use of complex patent terminology and therefore with no limit on the scope of the invention presented hereinafter, the present invention comprises opposed hoop or circular rings rolling on a track in response to the motion of children sitting or standing on the opposite sides thereof on the periphery of the hoops which roll in response to opposed motion of the children and which are counterbalanced by large strong resilient springs extending from the hoops to a base member upon which the entire device moves. In the present invention, a substantially flat base member rests on the floor and movably mounted above this base member on longitudinal tracks formed in the base are opposed hoops or rings connected together somewhat in cylindrical fashion by connecting bars and having on opposite sides of the peripheries thereof seats upon which a respective child may sit, one in opposition to the other, and facing relationship. A handle means is provided in front of the children to which they may hold during the movement of this device. Large coil springs are provided on the hoops on opposite sides thereof having their ends attached to a transverse connecting bar between said hoops and having their lower ends converging inwardly from opposite sides of said hoops and being connected to a point adjacent each other 'where the hoops rest on the track. Safety chains are provided on each side to prevent abnormal movement in either direction. The entire device is confined for rolling moving longitudinally along the track on the base, and in one direction or in the reverse direction depending upon the predominating force from one of the children seated thereon and moving in one direction the hoop rolls and the child is moved in an arcuate path with his weight stretching the set of coil springs on the opposite side of the hoop until the force of the coil springs combined with the weight of the other child overcomes the momentum of the moving child, at which time the device will start to move in the other direction and reverse action is obtained, that is, the other set of coil springs will be stretched until the momentum is again overcome by the child being moved. Therefore, the children are receiving somewhat of a seesaw movement but at all times being seated on the rolling hoops. This provides a great safety factor in that when constructed with large and durable coil springs, accidental toppling in one direction or the other is practically completely eliminated.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a rolling toy device for children which utilizes hoops rolling along a longitudinal track against the opposed action of resilient members such as coil springs.

Another object of this invention is found in the particular arrangement of seats extending from the periphery of hoop members so that children seated on opposite sides thereof may oppose their weight one against the other to shift the momentum and direction of movement.

An additional object is found in the particular manner of mounting rolling hoops on a longitudinal track with diagonal coil springs attached from a point outwardly to a point inwardly whereby these coil springs are placed in opposition to the movement of the momentum of the child moving in a direction toward the base or floor.

A further object is found in the use of two open opposed hoop-like members joined by rigid bars and having their bottoms confined on a longitudinal track which allows substantially only longitudinal .movement in one direction or the other.

Still another object is found in the particular arrange ment of rolling hoops and coil springs whereby maximum safety is afforded through the holding action of the coil springs as children move in one direction or the other.

Other and further objects and advantages of my inven tion will be apparent upon reading the following specifi cations, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my invention with children diagrammatically shown seated thereon for moving said device in one direction or the other.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front end elevation view of the device shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIG.2.

Referring to FIG. 1, my invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 10 and comprises a substantially flat base member 12 consisting of a substantially rectangular, longitudinal base plate 14 having upstanding, opposed, longitudinal track members 16 fastened thereon andhaving end ground-engaging handle bar-like band members 18 fastened at each end thereof to position the base on and slightly above the floor surface. Mem- ,20 and consisting of a pair of spaced, opposed co-axial hoops, rings, or circular members 22, 2'4, co-axially attached together permanently by means of connecting orossabars 2 6, welded or otherwise attached with their respective ends on a hoop member 22, 24. One of the cross-bars 26 on each side or on opposite opposed sides of the periphery of the hoops is fixed on the outside of the hoops and extends therebeyond on each side thereof to provide foot rests, there being a pair on each side of the hoops 22. Rings 22, 24 are outside of and against a respective track member 16, and this prevents the rings from falling sideways off the base 14.

Individual childrens seats 28 are mounted on the opposite sides of the circumference of rings '22, 24 by means of respective seat frames 30 consisting of a long bar 31 running from the back of the seat down to the foot rest member 26 and a front triangular shaped front frame member 32 connected across between the two rings 22, 24 and fastened to the bottom front of the seat 23. Individual handle bar members 34 of U-shaped construction have the bottom end thereof welded to a respective ring member 22, 24, thereby providing a hand hold beyond the front of each seat to which a child may hold on either side of the device.

A pair of large heavy coil springs 36 is fastened each with the upper hooked end 38 thereof inside rings 22, 24 around and on the cross-bar foot rest member as and each with a bottom hooked end thereof hooked around a bottom coil spring retaining rod member ill, which is rigidly fastened across and between the insides of the opposed'track member 16. There is an identical pair of coil springs 42 on the other side of each of the rings 22, 24 from the coils 36 and each has its upper hooked end 44 thereof fastened to the cross-rod foot member 26 and a bottom hooked end &6 thereof hooked onto the cross-bar coil spring retaining member 43 which is spaced from the other retaining member 40. With this arrangement, movement of the hook members or rings 22, 24 in one direction, as for instance, to the left-hand side in FIG. 1, will stretch the heavy coil springs 36, 42 as the rings 22, 24 move to the left. This action exerts a force in the opposite direction on the rings, tending to return them to the position from whence they came and therefore the off-balance weight which causes the rings to move in this direction will be resisted by the coil springs tending to prevent an overbalance in this direction. Likewise movement in the other direction tends to expand the coil springs 36, 42 and the coil springs 42 in return rcsist the abnormal overbalance in this direction.

As a safety precaution to prevent any possibility of the device frame 20 from going too far along one end or the other end of the base 14, a chain 59 has one end 52 thereof fastened to one of the ground contact stands 18 and the other end thereof attached to a coil spring 54 which in turn is fastened to the cross-bar foot rest 26. An identical chain 56 has one end 58 thereof fastened on the other stand member 18 and in like manner attaches to a coil spring 60 which is fastened on the footrest member 26 on that side. Chains 5t 56 will retard the frame 20 from falling off the base 14 if the weight ever reaches such an abnormal amount as to stretch coil springs 42 or 36 beyond their normal preventative force. Large U-shaped pins 62 may be hooked over members 18 and driven into the ground. Swinging footboards 64 are swung on rods 65 each swingably mounted on a re spective frame 32 adjacent a respective seat 28 and are optional with the footbars 25.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, this is by way of illustration only, and is not to be construed as the only form which my invention may take, since there are various alterations, substitutions, eliminations, variations, changes, diversions and modifications which may be made in the embodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

1 claim:

1. In a rolling exercise toy device of the class described, a ground support base member, a substantially circular ring frame mounted on said base for rolling movement thereon and in contact with said base to travel thereon, said ring frame being of sufficient width to support itself for unitary movement on said base, seat members mounted on said ring frame, said seat members being adapted to receive a child seated on each of said seat members, and hand hold means on said ring frame in front of said seat members, foot-rest members on said ring frame beneath said seat members, at least one large heavy coil spring interposed between said ring frame and said base member, said coil spring being connected at one end to said ring frame and having the other end thereof extending diagonally and being connected to said base member, a second coil spring in a direction converging with said first coil spn'ng, said second coil spring being connected to said ring frame and extending diagonally therefrom and connected to said base member, whereby a child may sit on each of said seat members and by shifting their weights thereon, one child may overbalance the other to cause said ring frame to move in a forward direction whereupon said spring on that side is extended and resists movement thereof, and whereupon said other child may combine with the resistance force of said spring and cause said rolling ring frame to roll back toward the center of said base mem-' her and thence in the reverse direction so that said chil dren may amuse themselves by rolling forwardly and backwardly along said base member being controlled by the resistance of said springs, said circular ring frame being sufficient in length measured along the circumference to permit the child in one seat to pass beyond the normal vertical when moving from a down to an up position against the action of the coil spring, thereby allowing the child to accomplish the sensation of rolling over on his head as he propels the device from one direction upwardly and over beyond the vertical in the other direction.

2. In a rolling exercise toy device of the class described, a ground support base member, a pair of upstanding tr-ack guide members on said base, a pair of substantially concentric circular ring members mounted on said base for rolling movement thereon and in contact with said track members to be guided thereby, said ring members having cross-bar members rigidly connecting said concentric ring members together for unitary movement on said base, a pair of seat members mounted on opposite sides of said ring members, each of said seat members being adapted to receivea child seated thereon, and hand hold members on said ring members in front of said seat members, foot-rest members on said ring members beneath said seat members, a pair of large heavy coil springs interposed between said ring members and said base member, each of said coil springs being connected at one end to said ring members and having the other end thereof extending diagonally and being connected to said base'member, a second pair of coil springs extending in a direction converging with said first pair of coil springs, said second pair of coil springs each being connected to said ring members and extending diagonally therefrom and connected to said base member, whereby a child may sit on each of said seat members and by shifting their weights thereon, one child may overbalance the other to cause said ring members to move in a forward direction whereupon said springs on that side are extended and resist movement thereof, and whereupon said other child may combine with the resistance force of said springs and cause said rolling rings to roll back toward the center of said base member and thence in the reverse direction so that said children may amuse themselves by rolling forwardly and backwardly along said base member being controlled by the resistance of said springs, said rolling circular ring members being sufiicient in length measured along the circumference to permit a child in one seat to pass beyond the normal vertical when moving from a down to an up position against the action of said coil springs, thereby allowing the child to accomplish the sensation of rolling over on his head as he propels the device from one direction upwardly and over beyond the vertical in the other direction, and in like manner per- 5 mitting the child on the other side to return the device in the other direction and to experience the same sensation.

3. The device in claim 2 wherein there are flexible safety members having one end thereof connected to said base and the other end thereof connected to said ring 10 members to be prevented by said safety members from excess movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Australia Jan. 24, 1949 

